A Golf Blog

Online vs. Brick and Mortar

…you decide. I was in the market for a new golf bag – something to replace this behemoth.

I looked online for inspiration and on a day trip decided to ‘drop in’ at one of Dick’s Sporting Goods locations to see what they had. I found an Ogio ‘Ace’ that caught my eye. I wasn’t ready to grab the first thing I saw so I’d continue my hunt for a bag another day.

I did find out that Ogio made the ‘Ace’ exclusively for Dick’s and that the model was last made 3 years ago. Seemed to me they would be ripe to make me a deal on a 3 year old bag so I gave it a try. The golf pro at Dick’s told me that Ogio didn’t permit discounts on their merchandise so I left without a purchase.

Back online, I stumbled upon GolfBags.com and they had a similar bag but with a heftier price tag. But wait, they’re ignoring Ogio’s mandate that they not discount their bags. After a 16% discount, a special additional 15%, no tax = another 8.25% and no shipping – maybe another 8% to 10% less, I couldn’t pass it up.

It arrived Thursday and I couldn’t be happier.

So, a simple 10% to 15% off at Dick’s would have closed the sale. As it turned out, the more expensive bag was actually less costly than the Dick’s Ogio exclusive. So Dick’s hesitance to ‘discount’ a golf bag might have reduced their margin from maybe 15% to 10% but 0% of 0 is still 0.

What Is It?

The winter of 2009 brought some pretty brutal weather with it. There’s very little here to deflect wind so when it blows it’s with a vengeance. As a result, the winter tarps that the past superintendent covered the greens with were pretty ineffective. Several blew off and when uncovered combined with the low temperatures; a few of the greens were destroyed. This cost Robson somewhere in the vicinity of mid six figures to fix.

Yesterday, the maintenance crew began installing these around each green.

They’re hooks for tarp tie downs. The tarps will still need some weights on the tarps between the hooks but all in all, this should prevent a redo of the 2009 fiasco.

Merry Golfing Christmas

Today’s the shortest day of the year and I suspect one that’s not fully embraced by the golfing population. So golfers, just play faster. Until tomorrow anyway, when the days start getting longer.

With Christmas right around the corner, I’m wondering what golfers are going to find under the tree. I have no data and facts but my guess is that there will be lots of shiny new gear; clubs, balls, bags, and lots of accessories all secured with the hope of buying a better game.

One of my golfing buddies just made the leap to the R11 from TaylorMade. He hits it about the same as his older TaylorMade driver but he can at least boast about having the latest technology. Or can he? This just popped up in my Twitter feed – it’s called RocketBallz and it’s from TaylorMade. So you decide – was the move up to the R11 a step forward?

One things for sure; lesson’s should much more prevalent than they are. Buying a game is expensive and there are no guarantees. Oh, and practice doesn’t hurt either.

The Sweet Spot

The new golf tools (clubs) are working great. This is the best I’ve ever hit the ball. I still have some lapses (penalties; I sure hate stroke and distance) but for the most part its fairways and near misses on approaches. I’ve been working on the short game and am amazed at the versatility of matched clubs around the greens. Now if I can only remember to get ball rolling on the green as soon as possible.

Yesterday’s highlight? Holed a 7 iron from 156 yards for an eagle 3 on Angel Fire’s par 5 7^th.

Keep it in the short grass.

MOI Matching and My Scores

Greg asked in the MOI Matching post what the new clubs have done to my scores – Great Question.

Since getting my new clubs, all but a few rounds have been within 2 strokes (+/-) of my handicap. My low round was an 81 and the high (first this summer in Angel Fire) was a 96.

What I have noticed is if I try on every shot (you might be surprised how many don’t) my misses are not so bad. Missing by 5 yards is a lot better than missing by 25. It’s amazing how effortless a swing can be when all the clubs ‘feel’ the same. Yup, you can shut your eyes and not know the difference between a 5 iron and a 9 iron; except for the length.

I suspect I will be working on swing consistency from here on out so I’ll be minimizing hard and soft swings in favor of taking an extra club or choking up when between irons.

So what’s the bottom line? If I’m going to get better, it’s going to be through practice, starting at the hole and working my way out. After all, most shots are taken from 100 yards and in.

MOI Matching

Since taking up golf about 15 years ago, I’d thought many times about getting clubs that were made for me; not necessarily a brand name set off the shelf that were fitted from a ‘lie board’ with the lie angle bent a degree or two up or down. What I had in mind back then was more like a custom made suit from a bespoke tailor only using a certified master club maker to accomplish the same thing only for golf clubs.

Well, the smile on my face is testament to the value and performance of a custom set that is MOI matched to me and me alone.

I can now say that I have a ‘guy’ that I can go to with any question and get a credible, understandable answer to just about any query relative to the ‘tools of golf.

My search for the perfect clubs started with an unsolicited email from Rob Wheat, a media relations representative Tom Wishon, a custom club maker, designer, and club fitter. I read a couple of Tom’s books which strengthened my resolve for my own custom clubs. Tom’s Web Site had many links to club makers/fitters across the US and as luck would have it, there were several right here in North Texas.

Then last year, at the North Texas PGA Expo, I happened upon a booth touting MOI matching called Fit2Score. I don’t remember what caused me to ‘back burner’ custom clubs for more than a year after my Fit2Score encounter but…..as of a few short weeks, I am now the very proud owner of a complete set of new clubs – Driver, fairway metals, irons, and wedges. The driver and fairway metal shafts are spot on to my size and swing speed. The irons are all MOI matched to me. What that means is the weight of my five iron is identical to the weight of each iron in my bag and that translates to the same swing feel regardless of which iron I happen to have in my hand at the time. Thought you might like to have a look at my MOI printout.

This also translates to similar ball flight with each iron as well as predictable distances. I’m still working on getting distances down so it’s a good think that I like to practice.

Take some time to troll through Tom’s web site. And if you’re in North Texas, please feel free to get in touch with Fit2Score. By the way, since being named one of Golf Digest’s top 100 club makers, Fit2Score has plenty to keep them busy.

Keep it in the short grass.

Cover Up

For about 2 weeks in February, the temperature here at The Ranch only got above freezing 3 times. The maintenance crew covered the greens to keep them from freezing and killing the Tif Eagle grass plants. For the most part, it worked well but for a couple of days, the wind played havoc with the covers.

Several of the tarps worked loose in the wind and a few of the greens were partially uncovered for about 48 hours; just enough time to stress one of them severely. That green is being partially covered today with the hope the black tarp will heat up the soil enough to help the grass recover.

I never really gave tarps much thought but as we've been playing the past couple of weeks, the difference between the turf that was covered and the turf that wasn't is dramatic. From this picture, the area that was covered is dramatically greener.

Leverage

It almost made me smile - 2 major media/broadcasting entities, NBC and Golf Channel, have partnered to broadcast the WCG Accenture Match Play championship.

I wonder why something like this hasn't become the norm? NBC is doing the broadcast and Golf Channel appears to be providing the infrastructure for it. Neither is footing the entire bill; makes sense.

Winter Golf

So when do you think folks that live here will be able to get in a round of golf?

Transitions

I normally don't much dwell on the weather but this years transition from warm to not so pretty much happened overnight.

Last winter was particularly brutal on some of the greens here at 'The Ranch' so this year, the superintendent decided not to take any chances. Because of last winter, he and his staff pretty much went into butt busting mode for several weeks; one green had to be completely rebuilt and several required significant patching due to freezing temperatures.

When I say not take any chances, I'm not kidding. The super rolled out the tarps three weeks ago when the outside temperature was above 80.

You have to admit that it seemed odd to be playing in shorts yet anticipating a freeze any day.

Today was only supposed to get to 40 with overnight lows in the 20s so the green that was rebuilt got wrapped in a snuggie yesterday where the mercury tapped out at 78.

It's obvious the super would rather do normal maintenance during the summer months and not have to worry about rebuilding greens. And, know what? I don't blame him.

Time Off

My mind started wandering and I got to thinking about how often I play golf. (insert comment about getting a life).

Today is day 265 of 2010. I know that because I found a day counter online. I also know that I've recorded scores for 120 rounds of golf so far this year - that's about 1 round every two days (more precisely, it's 1 round every 2.208333 days). It's no wonder that I've got nagging aches and pains in about half my joints.

Our club championship is tomorrow and Saturday here at 'The Ranch' and following that, I think I'll take a couple of weeks off to heal up. My bride and I will be traveling a bit and I can get away from the game by simply not traveling with my clubs.

I also think some time in the gym here would help as well. Unfortunately, I can pretty much always come up with an excuse to work out later.

Time to tune in to the goings on at East Lake. Should be an interesting 4 days.

Re-Supply

I really enjoy playing mountain golf. The scenery is fantastic and we get the occasional elk and deer. Thankfully, the black bears restrict their activities to after sundown. It’s a good thing too – they can be pretty messy. As a matter of fact, there are local rules here that provide relief from wild animal poo!

It’s also fun to play at about 8,500 feet because the ball travels a good 10 to 15 percent farther. My last time out, I carried a 7 iron 175 yards. Not bad for a sexagenarian.

But, even with the scenery and the ball carrying farther, I still have to deal with narrower fairways, more penalizing rough, lots of water, and tighter out of bounds. That translates into more frequent re-supply of golf balls. Back in the flatlands, if I get an order in by noon at The Golf Warehouse it will be on my front porch sometime the next day.

US Open Television Camera Coverage

I don't know about you, but I think ESPN/NBC is doing a sub-par performance when it comes to their camera coverage.

I'm watching in HD and I haven't seen a tee shot in the air yet. As a matter of fact, I just watched two tee shots on #7; today it's playing 99 yards. In both cases, the best the camera could do was to pick up the ball after it came to rest at the back of the green.

Maybe it's the course? Maybe it's the way the natural light from the sea shore illuminates the course? Maybe ESPN/NBC could learn something from CBS?

I wait all year for the US Open and I'm not sure I can endure more than 6 hours of network coverage when they can't track the golf ball.

People, what am I missing here?

It All Matters or Everything Counts

The golf season here at the ranch is just about fully underway and will be when we can finally say goodbye to what seems to be about 4 weeks straight of high school tournaments.

Anyway, as more and more join the regular Wednesday and Thursday MGA games, pace of play becomes more of an issue. Last week, before starting our Thursday game, the MGA president had a few words about posting legitimate scores. Play the ball down, no gimme putts, and play ready golf. If everyone followed those directions, there’s no reason that the round or any round should take more than four hours.

Well, you’d have thought he’d poked someone in the eye with a sharp stick. The ESC handicap issue was mentioned – why keep playing if you’ve reached your max ESC score for a hole? Well, for one, your ESC score for a hole only gets applied after the round when posting your score. Here at the ranch, we post scores hole by hole and the GHIN system automatically adjusts your actual score with the ESC score when applicable.

Besides, consider if $$$$ is involved. What you shoot is what applies when figuring out prizes but it’s adjusted for handicap purposes.

Now, how about the time it takes to play a round. I still believe that you can shoot 72, 102, or 122 and still complete play in 4 hours. What get’s things all out of whack is the 35 handicapper plumb bobbing a 3 footer for an 8!

How about 1.) hit the ball; 2.) find the ball; 3.) hit the ball; repeat 2 and 3 until the ball falls in the hole the start over with 1?

That work for you?

Identity Theft

Well, maybe not but….I have several Google Alerts and one of them is for mentions of Acemakr.

Seems that recently someone has hijacked the Acemakr (search the comments for Acemakr) moniker. Not the web site, just the moniker.

Bit of a bummer, really.

Do Over

I realize that Golf Digest is a victim of print deadlines and had to have the artwork for their cover story in well before the news about Tiger broke.

But, you've got to know that they'd like a do over on this one - the last thing the president needs now is advice from Tiger.

The Big Chill

I realize that other parts of the US are getting hammered by the first real winter storm of the year. Here in North Texas, we got the cold and managed to dodge the snow and ice bullets.

We are pretty much able to play year round here but that does present some problems for our maintenance staff. When it gets really cold or is forecast to be for an extended period of time, our super stages tarps for the greens anticipating they’ll need to be covered. In my time here at the ranch, I think that’s only happened once.

What’s more common is for him to run sprinklers on the greens before daylight so when the sun does come up and the temps drop, the ice that’s formed creates a sort of blanket of insulation.

I’m sure he’d much rather run the sprinklers than have his crew wrestle with covering 18 greens and 3 practice greens.

Just think, the coming of winter in 13 days means that in 14 the days will begin to get longer.

A Gift That Keeps on Giving

I got a note from GolfLabels.com a couple of days ago. I bought labels from them when I got my latest set of irons and while I've not needed them as of yet, they do contribute a bit to piece of mind should I leave a club somewhere on the course. I've still got some spares but I'm thinking a set for each of my foresome would be a nice touch for Christmas. Not to worry, it will still be a surprise - I don't think either of the three ever visits the blog.

If you'd like to get me something...this would certainly fit the bill. It's a French Army Knife.

Hat-Tip to Cash @ Bushwood

Job Hunting

In February, Hunter Industries is  partnering with the GCSAA to present a Student/Superintendent Employment Fair. If you are interested in a career in  turf management or enhancing your resume with classes and seminars, you might want to see about getting to San Diego in February.

More here.

Winter Maintenance

We’re not there yet; winter that is. Here in North Texas, we can pretty much play year round but it does get chilly. And the chilly weather brings with it a different course. Except for the over seeded tee boxes, all the turf (> 200 acres of it) is dormant. That means the little white ball rolls like the dickens – a good drive in the summertime could translate to winter time madness because a ball that found the fairway 6 months ago will now roll through the fairway and into the rough, a hazard, or out of bounds.

The cold weather also brings with it a different kind of maintenance. The course mechanic is overhauling equipment and our GCSAA superintendent is doing projects that took a back seat during our peak growing season.

Seems like there are always challenges with drainage; whether it’s puddles in low spots on the cart paths or soft false fronts to some of the greens is always something. Then there’s our ESA (environmentally sensitive areas) that get their once a year cleanout.

One of the initiatives here actually free up some of the hours the staff needs for course set-up. A couple of years ago, we went to rotating cups during the dormant turf season. Each green has 3 hole placements. They are rotated daily (maybe every other day if play is light) and new holes are cut only ever second or third week (again depending on play). The cup plugs aren’t growing so there is zero chance the hole ‘scar’ will heal.

It works pretty well and when the warmer weather returns, the greens bounce back a lot easier.